"There's a facility ... surrounded by residential, and you talk to people in Dundas who live a block away from the plant and they had no idea what was happening there," she said.

A report on the July fire by the Ontario's Fire Marshal's Office initially stated firefighters did not know they were dealing with rodent poisons and pesticides on scene. The office later said fire crews did know and the correction will be attached to the final report as an addendum.

Others are moving ahead with their own plans.

Toronto city council has directed staff to draft a right-to-know bylaw that would oversee chemical reporting in the city, said Katrina Miller, campaigns director with the Toronto Environmental Alliance.
Miller said the alliance has been pushing for the bylaw for about eight years and Toronto would become the first place in Canada to have one if it passes this summer.

"One of the things the bylaw does do is require facilities to track their use and storage, so it will provide information about what's on site," Miller said. "And that will be particularly helpful to emergency responders."

She expects the public would have access to chemical information in the city by 2010 at the earliest.